Toe stop mounting for roller skates

ABSTRACT

A toe stop mounting in which a rib or detent projects downwardly from the toe stop support for interlocking engagement with one of a plurality of grooves formed in the upper end of the toe stop member to oppose rotation of the toe stop member in response to offcenter frictional braking forces developed thereby. The bottom of the detent is fractured in an irregular manner to increase its holding power with respect to such rotation of the toe stop member.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Gordon K. Ware St. Charles, 111. 211Appl. No. 826,215 [22] Filed May 20, 1969 [45] Patented May 25, 1971[73] Assignee The Chicago Roller Skate Company Chicago, Ill.

[54] TOE STOP MOUNTING FOR ROLLER SKATES 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 280/l1.2, 15 1/35 [51] Int. Cl A63c 17/14 [50] Field ofSearch 280/11.2; 15 1/3 5 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS2,179,575 11/1939 Hosking 151/35 VII/I VII/1, law/14.11714 123 3.1 s\\ mmun Z Z4 0 i:\\\\\\a: u m\\\ 2,706,641 4/1955 Van Horn 280/11.22,954,984 10/1960 Ware 280/11.2 3,180,651 4/1965 Ware..... 280/11.23,250,544 5/1966 Ware 280/1 1.2

Primary Examiner-Benjamin Hersh Assistant Examiner-Milton L. SmithAttorney-Olson, Trexler, Wolters & Bushnell ABSTRACT: A toe stopmounting in which a rib or detent projects downwardly from the toe stopsupport for interlocking engagement with one of a plurality of groovesformed in the upper end of the toe stop member to oppose rotation of thetoe stop member in response to offcenter frictional braking forcesdeveloped thereby. The bottom of the detent is fractured in an irregularmanner to increase its holding power with respect to such rotation ofthe toe stop member.

TOE STOP MOUNTING FOR ROLLER SKATES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to toe stop mountings for roller skates and moreparticularly to toe stop mountings in which rotation of the toe stopmember due to offcenter frictional braking forces is opposed by means ofa rib or detent which projects downwardly from the toe stop support forinterlocking engagement with one of a plurality of grooves formed in thetop of the toe stop member. Toe .stop mountings of this general typehave been known in the prior art, as disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No.3,180,651, which was issued on Apr. 27, 1965 for a Toe Stop Structure"and U.S. Pat. No. 3,250,544, which was issued on May 10, 1966 for aRoller Skate Structure. Both of these patents disclose ribs or detentswhich interlock with one of a plurality of grooves in the top of a toestop member for opposing rotation thereof. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,651the detent is formed by molding or forging a solid projection on thebottom of the toe stop support bracket, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,250,544the detent is formed by embossing a flat metal bracket with a punch.

Both of the above-noted prior-art mounting structures usually have beensuccessful in achieving their principal objective of opposing rotationof the toe stop member due to offcenter braking forces. However, it is aprincipal object of this invention to provide an improved toe stopmounting which is even more effective in opposing the rotation of thetoe stop member due to offcenter braking forces than those heretoforeknown in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, it has beenfound that the holding powerof a detent which interlocks with one of aplurality of grooves in the toe stop member can be substantiallyimproved by deliberately exceeding the structural strength of themounting bracket when the detent is embossed therein so as to fracturethe bottom of the detent in an irregular manner. It has been furtherfound that by suitable adjustment of the punching tool and process, thisirregular fracture can be made to assume the form of a pair of spacedapart jagged edges that provide an open space into which the resilientmaterial of the toe stop member will be extruded when the toe stopmember tends to rotate,and that the body of the extruded material withinsuch space will present a relatively high shear resistance to the spacedapart jagged edges. Thus, in accordance with this invention, it has beenfound that the holding power of an embossed detent can be substantiallyincreased by doing a bad job of embossing, i.e. by deliberatelyexceeding the tolerance levels of the material so as to produce a jaggedfracture at the bottom of the detent.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a cross-sectional view of oneillustrative toe stop mounting assembly of this invention attached tothe front wheel truck of a roller skate structure.

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken along the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the toe stop mounting bracket shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the downwardly projectingdetent of the mounting bracket shown in FIG. 3.

FIG 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the plane 5-5 ofFIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows one illustrative toe stop mountingstructure of this invention attached to the front roller truck of arink-type roller skate. This particular embodiment of the inventionutilizes a detachable toe stop bracket which is shaped to engage theunderside of an axle 12 which is secured by resilient mounting means toa soleplate 14. Detachable toe stop bracket 10 is held in place by aU-clamp I6 which is secured to a longitudinal brace I8 that extendsbetween the central portion of axle l2 and the toe portion of soleplate14. The interrelation of toe stop mounting bracket 10, axle I2,longitudinal brace 18, and U-clamp 16 do not, however, constitute anovel feature of this invention. This particular type of detachable toestop mounting clamp has been known in the past and is disclosed in myprior U.S. Pat No. 2,954,984, which was issued on Oct. 4, 1960 for aDetachable Toe Stop For A Roller Skate. The novel portions of thestructure disclosed in drawings of this application relate to the meanson the end of toe stop mounting clamp 10 for preventing rotation of theresilient toe stop member 20 which is attached to the end ofclamp 10.

Referring to FIG. 1, a resilient toe stop member 20 is secured to thefront end of the toe stop mounting bracket 10 by means of a threadedstud 22 which projects from the upper surface of toe stop member 20 andextends through a bore formed in the front end of bracket 10. Threadedstud 22 is secured to clamp 10 by means of a nut and lock washer 34. Inthis particular example, the stud 22 is a threaded bolt which extendsthrough an opening in the toe stop member 20. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art, however, that the threaded stud 22 could alsobe formed as an integral part of the toe stop member 20 by molding thetoe stop member around the head of stud 22.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of radially spacedindentations 26 are formed in the upper surface of the toe stop member20 extending radially outward from the center of threaded stud 22. Adownwardly projecting detent 28 formed on the end of bracket 10 engagesone of the radial indentations to oppose rotation of the toe stop member20 in response to offcenter braking forces developed when the toe stopmember is pressed against the floor. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that toe stop member 20 will almost never be exactlyaligned in a vertical plane when it contacts the floor, and thereforethat a rotary moment of force will be developed which tends to rotatetoe stop 20 about the axis of stud 22 when the toe stop is pressedagainst the floor.

In accordance with this invention, it has been found that the holdingpower of detent 28 with respect to opposing such rotation of toe stopmember 20 can be substantially increased by deliberately performing adefective embossing operation when the detent 28 is embossed in bracket10. It has been found that by deliberately exceeding the tolerance levelof the material of bracket 10 when the detent 28 is embossed, a fracturecan be formed on the bottom of detent 28, as best shown in FIGS. 4 and5, and the jagged edges of this fracture substantially increases theholding power of the detent. By suitably adjusting the parametersinvolved in the embossing operation, ie the dimensions of the embossingpunch and the amount of force applied thereto, the fracture can beopened to expose spaced apart jagged edges such as indicated in FIGS. 4and 5. The spaced apart jagged edges are preferably separated far enoughto define an opening 30 that extends completely through the material ofbracket 10 to permit the relatively soft plastic material of toe stopmember 20 to be extruded into the opening when rotary pressure isapplied thereto. This further enhances the holding power of the detent28. As is best illustrated in FIG. 4, by appropriate dimensioning of theembossing punch and appropriate positioning thereof, a relatively solidbridge of material 32 will join together and close off the front of theopening 30 defined by the spaced apart jagged edges. This bridge ofsolid material is not essential to the invention but it is helpful inmost applications. As best shown in FIG. 4, when a solid bridge ofmaterial 32 remains in front of the open space 30, the front end of thejagged edges will depend downwardly from the bridge of material 32 andpresent a more jagged and irregular aspect than would be presented ifthe open space 30 continued to the front edge of the bracket 10.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that this inventionprovides a toe stop mounting bracket in which the toe stop member ismore securely locked against rotation due to offcenter braking forces.And although this invention has been illustrated with reference to onespecific embodiment thereof, it should be understood that manymodifications can be made in the disclosed structures without departingfrom the basic principles of this invention. For example, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that many variations can be made inthe particular mounting bracket disclosed herein and in the means forsecuring the bracket to the roller skate structure without in any wayaltering the essential features of the detent at theend of the mountingbracket. In addition, it is possible to form several detents instead ofthe single detent disclosed in this particular example of the invention.Many similar modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the artand it should be understood that this invention includes allmodifications falling within the scope of the following claims.

lclaim:

1. In a roller skate structure, the combination comprising a resilienttoe stop member for generating a frictional braking force when pressedagainst a surface over which it is moving, an elongate, threaded studattached to said toe stop member and projecting therefrom for supportingthe toe stop member, a plurality of indentations in the surface of saidtoe stop member adjacent to the projecting portion of said threadedstud, and indentations being radially spaced from one another withrespect to the axis of said threaded stud, means on said 1 roller skatestructure for receiving said threaded stud to secure said toe stopmember to said roller skate structure, said means including asubstantially flat metallic plate having a bore formed therein forreceiving said stud and at least one detent projecting downwardlytherefrom and positioned to engage in one of said indentations to opposerotation of said toe stop member about the axis of said stud, and thesurface of said flat metallic plate being fractured at the bottom ofsaid detent to divide the bottom of said detent into two spaced apartjagged edges, each of which extends substantially radially with respectto the axis of said bore, said fracture extending completely throughsaid flat metallic plate with the radially outermost ends of said spacedapart jagged edges being supported by a substantially solid bridge ofmaterial extending circumferentially therebetween, thereby to increasethe holding power of said detent with respect to opposing the rotationof said toe stop member about the axis of said stud.

1. In a roller skate structure, the combination comprising a resilienttoe stop member for generating a frictional braking force when pressedagainst a surface over which it is moving, an elongate, threaded studattached to said toe stop member and projecting therefrom for supportingthe toe stop member, a plurality of indentations in the surface of saidtoe stop member adjacent to the projecting portion of said threadedstud, and indentations being radially spaced from one another withrespect to the axis of said threaded stud, means on said roller skatestructure for receiving said threaded stud to secure said toe stopmember to said roller skate structure, said means including asubstantially flat metallic plate having a bore formed therein forreceiving said stud and at least one detent projecting downwardlytherefrom and positioned to engage in one of said indentations to opposerotation of said toe stop member about the axis of said stud, and thesurface of said flat metallic plate being fractured at the bottom ofsaid detent to divide the bottom of said detent into two spaced apartjagged edges, each of which extends substantially radially with respectto the axis of said bore, said fracture extending completely throughsaid flat metallic plate with the radially outermost ends of said spacedapart jagged edges being supported by a substantially solid bridge ofmaterial extending circumferentially therebetween, thereby to increasethe holding power of said detent with respect to opposing the rotationof said toe stop member about the axis of said stud.